Coco (4/15/2000)

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(Not Previously Posted)

 

Our boxer puppy seemed hopeless as a guard dog.  She was everyone’s friend, wanting only to play.  As she grew in size, she became worrisome to some Hondurans who visited for the first time, but they soon found their only fear need be that Coco wanted to play to aggressively.

 

We have talked about getting another, more ferocious type of dog.  Our intent was to have a guard dog.  We certainly have room for two dogs in our yard.

 

Last week, I heard Coco growl and bark.  As I looked out the window I saw her, with hackles raised, barking at a Honduran by the gate.  She looked ferocious, and would have made me think twice before entering the yard.  We praised her, hoping to reinforce the behavior.  Yesterday, she repeated the act, and we praised her again.  We now have some hopes that she will indeed be a guard dog.

 

As I reflected on this, I realized that the Christians in the Honduran countryside around us are much like Coco.  They are “baby” believers, with enthusiasm, but no training.  Many are illiterate or with very limited reading ability.  They use an older version of the Bible with complex, antiquated Spanish that is difficult for them to understand.  The pastors have little, if any, Bible training.

 

Therefore the Church “plays” with sin.  People live in sin and the church is silent, because it is immature.  The leaders refuse to “bark” at the threat within their walls, at times because of lack of awareness of the danger, and at times because of fear that they will loose their congregation if they confront wrongdoing.

 

The Great Commission in Matthew calls us to make disciples.  That goes far beyond simply counting the numbers of people who claim to have received Jesus.  To make disciples is our purpose for being here; to build the Church into one that will follow and obey God’s Word, despite the cost, to see the Honduran believers making tough, but right choices, to see fruit in their lives, to see them growing and reproducing their faith in others.

 

Therefore, our letters and reports won’t be filled with “numbers” of those who receive Christ.  We trust instead to be able to write about individuals who have evidenced change in their lives, about people whose lives demonstrate fruit of God’s Spirit working, about people who have become “disciples”.

 

Dave Drozek with

 

Thoughts from Honduras

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